AN unidentified woman whose body was found on a Cumbrian beach wanted to ‘disappear and be free’, according to a letter found with her belongings.

An inquest was held at Cockermouth Coroners’ Court yesterday to look into the death of an unidentified woman found on Askam beach on July 29, 2021.

The woman – believed to be aged between her 30s and 40s – was found by dog walker Steven Whittam at around 4.15am.

Mr Whittam told the court he saw a body which ‘did not appear decomposed’ lying in the sand, and did not see anyone else on the beach at the time.

He returned home and rang the police who asked him to meet them on the beach.

Barrow detective constable Kate Howath received a call at 4.37am that a body had been found on Askam beach.

It was hard to identify much about the female due to damage from the water, she told the court.

A bag was found in the woman’s possessions which included numerous hard drives and a handwritten letter. The hard drive contained Korean music and drama and a Sim card came back unrecognised.

The hand-written letter said the woman was ‘stateless’ and had no home to return to.

It read: “I am a stateless person. I do not have a nationality or any country and have no home to return to so please no need to inspect and don’t call any authority or any country.

“If someone finds me dying, just leave me alone, I don’t want care to extend life.

“I don’t want to live again; I just want to disappear and be free.”

The letter also expressed the woman’s wishes to be cremated after her death and her personal belongings burned.

After conducting inquiries, it was discovered the woman had stayed in a number of B&Bs across Cumbria between 2020 and 2021 in Workington, Maryport and Carlisle.

She had made her bookings through Spare Room using the email address with the name Yeo Jeong Phoi, the court was told.

Owners of the B&B in Maryport recall a woman matching her description who told them she wanted to stay in the Lake District.

Officers said it was ‘clear she did not want to be found’.

A post-mortem examination confirmed that there was no evidence to indicate that the woman had consumed alcohol or used drugs.

She was 165cm in height, 54 kgs in weight, with long black hair, natural teeth with a significant overbite, and is believed to be Korean.

The post-mortem revealed there was no natural disease to cause or accelerate death and no evidence that she was a victim of assault prior to her body entering the water.

The court heard that the woman was dead for some time prior to the body being discovered, and the cause of her death was drowning.

Coroner Kirsty Gomersal described the case as ‘sad and tragic’ before recording a narrative conclusion.

In her conclusion, Ms Gomersal said it was difficult to determine if the suicide note is genuine or for someone living alone in a foreign country.

She also said it was difficult to establish if the woman entered the water deliberately.

She said: “There’s a number of possibilities about how she entered water and if she entered deliberately.

“The family may not know their loved one is deceased. Her DNA remains on record so I hope one day they can identify her for the comfort of her family.”